We begin July with one of the earlier "social conscience" stories of the Marvel Age, presenting issues to appeal to the youth of today (or 1969), even if Stan 'n' the Bullpen are a bunch of white guys approaching middle age. This is the well-intended (but ultimately too-easily solved) "Crisis on Campus" storyline, distinguished by coming in the middle of the Romita renaissance of Spider-Man, plopping him firmly into a supporting cast of his college peers (and Gwen Stacy) and having him deal not only with supervillains but the concerns of his fellow students (and Gwen Stacy).

As outlined in this wordy page of lettering love by Sam Rosen, our friendly neighborhood Peter Parker has to deal with both the A-plot and the B-plot (and I'm not certain which is which): an demonstration against Empire State University (home of the Fightin' Spiders) over the availability of affordable on-campus housing (in the middle of Manhattan?!? Pull the other one out of eight!), plus the Saga of That Mysterious Tablet Which Has Some Sort of Writing on It But Nothing Quite So Pithy as "ESU  Whew!"

Ah yes, that pesky tablet. Which means it's time for an ant's eye view of half-naked Kingpin! Who says this isn't the bountiful Bully Age of beefcake?

Also, Wilson Fisk has a henchman also named Wilson. That's likely to get a bit confusing during Secret Santa.

The exhibition of the valuable tablet and the demonstration against the administration clash! And not the good sort of "London Calling" clash, which would not be around for another seven years. In the middle, as always, is Petey, unsure what to do, how to act, and indeed what to think. He's hesitant to become involved, probably because with great power comes great reticence to take part in political and social debate. But what if Gwen Stacy thought you were a chicken, Peter? Buck buck buck buck!A chicken!

Kingpin uses the demo as a distraction to steal the tablet, conveniently forgetting that a Kingpin of Crime sits behind a big mahogany desk and gives orders to expendable underlings and does not get involved in the action himself. Have you learned nothing from the privately published crime treatises of Professor James Moriarty, Mister King?

Oh sure, now Spider-Man makes an appearance, because however morally problematic an insurrection against his school may be, he's not gonna let Fatso there interrupt his lunch at the food hall. Today's lunch is Sloppy Joes, tater tots, and peach cobbler, and I think the Kingpin and Spidey could sit down over that meal and hash things out, but I bet there's just gonna punch each other. Meanwhile, on the left-hand side of the panel, Angel Love's mom contemplates "LSD?!!"

na na na na BIFF na na na na PAK na na na na TWOP

And that's not the end, no way, true believer! The protesters are arrested (including Robbie Robertson's son Randy) and the Kingpin gets away with the tablet, and somehow in the next episode Spidey will wind up IN THE KINGPIN'S CLUTCHES. Don't ask me how I know; it's just a little hunch of mine.

Tomorrow: more pop art protests and the practice of progressive philosophy! And hey, if you want to learn a little bit more about Peter Parker's troubled history with student protests, there's no better place to peep your eye than pal Jim McGrath's excellent and vitally entertaining New York City and the Marvel Universeblog entry about ASM #38 with pretty intelligent reader letters discussing the story! Check it out or forever be labelled a chicken by Gwen Stacy! Buck buck buck buck!

"July: Superman and Supergirl" in The 1978 Calendar of Super-Spectacular Disasters; artwork by Curt Swan and Dan Adkins(Click picture to Tunguska-size)

It's not Christmas, but Supes and Superita are under attack by the Red and Green Menace! And pink. Good gravy, Brainiac, you may be the smartest being in the galaxy, but who sold you that suit? Anyway, Kal 'n' Kara are battling not only one of their most dangerous nemeses but also one that belongs to Green Lantern, because hey, Hal Jordan couldn't pick up the slack? Sheesh, Hal.

The super cousins must also deal with Brainiac and Sinestro dropping meteors on Earth, obviously cosplaying the popular 1998 disaster motion picture Armageddon, starring Ben Affleck as Vril Dox and Liv Tyler as Thaal Sinestro! Ughhh, now I never want animal crackers ever again. But don't forget to buy the ArmageddonCriterion Collection DVD, because...geez, I don't even know why. Just accept it all happened.

As always I've continued to fill in the blank checks as instructed to allow the JLA computer, working hard with its 5K of RAM, to compute the identity of the top supervillain behind all of 1978 2017's super-disasters. Honestly at this point, your guess is as good as mine whether it's going to draw a picture or spell out words. I think that if you kind of squint at it, it looks like Brainiac giving us the finger.

And there's yet another clue to the mastermind behind global warming general harmless environmental disaster not actually caused by mankind's carelessness in interacting with our precious and precarious natural balance:

Okay, let me step slightly outside the conceit of this post and admit: even tho' I've got a pretty good idea who the super-villain is, I absolutely didn't know what or who this clue referred to. I descended into the Great Bully Comic Book Vault (it's cool down there in the summer!) and pulled out some back issues to research, and I can now tell you the story behind this cryptic clue. However: I can't discuss it without revealing who's the nogooidnik behind these Super-Spectacular Disasters, and I don't wanna ruin the surprise for those of you playing along at home. So I'm putting the discussion of this seldom-seen (really!) brother-in-law in a completely different post where you won't come across it unless you voluntarily click this link. Who says it isn't the Bountiful Bully Age of Spoiler Warnings?

Are you an activist to know more? Then tune in later today for July 1st's 365 Days of Defiance, and I don't think you'll protest my spotlight on this issue. Why, I bet you'll occupy Empire State University waiting for it! Also: gratuitous Kingpin partial nudity! Be there or be civilly disobedient, picketers!

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

No month-long flashback to the death of Martha East (and husband Doctor Tom) is complete without pointing out that while Bruce Wayne lost both his parents

Bruce Wayne: I have lost both my parents.
Alfred Pennyworth: To lose one parent, Mr. Wayne, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.

on June 26 exactly (ahem, clearing throat, obscuring number) years ago, the very next day is the anniversary of the death of John and Martha Mary Grayson, popular swinging couple. Remember: all those years ago, bruce Wayne cheered himself up from June 26 by going to the circus on June 27.

Here's some flashbacks to previous celebrations commemorations of the death of Robin I's parents here, in 2013, 2014, and 2016. Dunno what happened in 2015. Must've had a short case of Robin-blindness.

Anyway, this year's Mr. & Mrs. Robinparents' death is represented by the oboe, as well as their glossy uniforms and substantial blood effects from the never-finished All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder. This one's for you, Mike Sterling!

Stay tuned next year for even more depictions of the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne, because if there's anything that comics love, it's reminding you of Batman's origin! na na na na na na na na na...CRIME ALLEY!

Monday, June 26, 2017

Years ago on this exact night, June 26 at 10:48 PM, on Park Row in Gotham City, Joe Chill shot and killed Thomas and Martha Wayne but left their young son Bruce alive to live with the burden of what he had witnessed. This, and every night we walk down Crime Alley only to meet the flash of a pair of gunshots, is The Batman and How He Came to Be.

But once in a while...time, space, and opportunity align in an event in Crime Alley that reminds Bruce Wayne what he is fighting for after all: not just justice, not merely punishing crime, but also...out of love.

Panels from Batman: Death and the Maidens #6 (March 2004), script by Greg Rucka, pencils and inks by Klaus Janson, colors by Steve Buccellato, letters by Clem Robins

May we, like Bruce, remember those who loved us...and that they loved us.